


What the hell?

by harveysgirl



Category: Suits (TV)
Genre: F/M
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2011-11-16
Updated: 2012-04-28
Packaged: 2017-10-26 03:29:47
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 9
Words: 21,150
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/278157
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/harveysgirl/pseuds/harveysgirl
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Harvey meets someone that challenges everything he thought he knew.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

 

The first time Harvey Specter saw her, he had just arrived at work and was standing at the curb talking to his driver, Ray. As he stood there, something behind Ray drew his gaze and his eyes went right to her. She was about 40 feet away, walking into his office building, and she was beautiful. But, there was more to it than that, something about her was pulling at Harvey, like a magnet. He had no idea why, but he knew he had to find out who she was.

 

 

Samantha Donovan was a beautiful woman. She had long, wavy hair the color of melted chocolate, emerald green eyes that could see right into your soul, and she was voluptuous, all the right curves in all the right places. But, the thing that made her the most attractive was the fact that she had absolutely no idea just how gorgeous she was. She was confident and capable, but completely unaware of her beauty.

She was so excited to see him that she'd gone to Pearson Hardman right from the airport. As she stepped into the elevator, she had the strange feeling that someone was staring at her. When the doors closed, she shook off the feeling and chalked it up to having been away from the city for too long.

She reached her floor and headed to the Receptionist's Desk, "may I help you," the seated woman asked politely.

"I'm here to see Mike Ross," Sam said with a bright smile.

"Do you have an appointment?"

"No, but I was hoping I could talk you into doing me a little favor," the younger woman said earnestly.

The Receptionist narrowed her eyes a bit, "what kind of 'favor,' exactly?" This young woman didn't seem like the normal high-end clients the firm attracted. She was dressed nicely - in a periwinkle button-down top, a drapey navy blue cardigan, dark wash jeans, and boots – but, a little casual for their usual clientele.

"No, no, no, I promise it's nothing bad," she said, smiling again. Her smile was sincere and eased the receptionist's mind a bit. "I was just hoping that you might help me surprise him," she said hopefully.

"I'm sorry, I'm not sure what you mean. Surprise him how?"

"Oh, I'm so sorry. I'm just excited to see him and I'm not explaining myself very well." She took a deep breath before she continued, making the woman on the other side of the desk turn the corners of her mouth up a little, "Mike is my brother. I just got back into town and he thinks that I'm not supposed to be here until next week."

"Ah, I see. Well, in that case," she said leaning forward conspiratorially, "go down this hall, turn right, and his desk will be half way down on your left."

Oh, she wanted to hug the other woman, but she settled for grasping her hand tightly, "thank you, thank you so much…"

"Rebecca," she smiled easily.

"Thank you so much, Rebecca," she said in a rush, squeezing her hand. Then she turned to head down the hallway she had pointed to.

She stepped around the corner looking to her left, and could see Mike at his desk, head down, with his ear buds in, obviously reading something on his desk. She saw him reach for another Red Bull and decided he needed a break. She sneakily wound her way past the other Associates and their desks to slip up right behind Mike. Just as he reached for the can of Red Bull without looking up, she slipped her hands over his eyes. "What the hell? Who?" He was trying to get out of her grasp, but she held tight. "Нет, нет, вы должны угадать," ["no, no, you must guess"] she said softly.

A huge grin spread across Mike's face, there was only one person he knew that would speak Russian to him. He responded, "Это моя прекрасная Сэм!" ["It's my beautiful Sam!"] With that, he jumped up and hugged her, both of them laughing. "What are you doing here? You weren't supposed to get in until next week! Why didn't you call me?" Mike couldn't believe that Sam was here! He'd missed her so much, but a sliver of worry worked through him. He hadn't really told her much about what was going on, just that he finally had a good job that could pay for his grandmother's care. He thought he knew what she would say, but they'd deal with that later. And, if he had his way, she'd _**never**_ know about Trevor, she would totally hunt him down and castrate him!

"I just wanted to surprise you. I hope it's okay that I came by your office," she replied, still beaming over the fact that her plan had worked.

"No, it's fine. I'm just so glad to see you!" He squeezed her tight again. At that moment Kyle decided to stick his nose in the situation.

"Ross, don't tell me that beautiful woman wants anything to do with you," he said snidely.

"She's my sister, dude. Shut up."

"Well, if that's the case," Kyle said, straightening his tie and trying unsuccessfully to switch from douchebag mode to charmer, "maybe she'd be interested in dating the lawyer who kicked your ass in the Mock Trial."

Sam looked from Mike to Kyle and back, "oh, this is him?" Mike nodded, knowing that Sam was going to enjoy handling this all on her own. She looked back at Kyle with the sultriest smile she could, "I'm sorry, but, I don't date _boys_ that have to overcompensate for what they lack," her eyes drifted down to his groin, then back up, "by selling out a coworker who they are clearly threatened by."

Mike smirked quietly as the color drained from Kyle's face before he could turn and skulk away.

"You are so awesome, I love you," Mike said as he hugged her again. Sam just smiled, quite pleased with herself, that guy was a complete tool!

"Ok, so have you found a place yet?"

"Not yet, but I'm going to stay with Melissa until I find something."

Mike frowned a little, "Melissa, your friend from school? Why don't you stay with me?"

"Are you still living in that hole you call an apartment," Sam asked, already knowing the answer.

"It's not _that_ bad."

Sam just rolled her eyes, "I think you just answered your own question, don't you? I love you, but I am not staying with you."

"Fine," he sighed. Sam thought she might have detected a little bit of a pout.

Just then Mike's cell rang. He looked at the display, "shoot. I have to take this it's my boss, Harvey. Hang on a sec." He pressed the button in answer, "yeah, Harvey, what's up?"

"Are you finished with the due diligence for the Reynolds deal yet? I need it. Actually, I needed it an hour ago. Oh, and we need to start on the contracts for the Thompson IPO."

"Yes, it's done, but I'm kind of in the middle of something. Can you give me one minute?" Sam was shaking her head, telling Mike to go ahead and do what he needed to. From what little Mike had told her, his boss sounded like a real hard-ass.

"Look, you do what I say, when I say it. Do we need to have that conversation again," Harvey railed.

"No. I'll be right there" he sighed as he hung up the phone. "I'm sorry, I really need to get some paperwork to him."

"No, no, go ahead. I didn't mean to interrupt your day."

"Hey, why don't you come with me, I'll introduce you to Donna. She's awesome! She's knows people everywhere, maybe she'll have an idea about an apartment or a job."

"It's ok, Mike, I don't want to get you into any trouble or anything," Sam said, turning to head back out.

He grabbed her hand quickly, "no, Donna's cool. She's a lot like you, actually, she lives to give me crap. Just don't expect me to introduce you to Harvey. He's pretty self-absorbed and a complete workaholic." Leaning closer, he whispered, "and, he sounds like he's in a mood today."

She laughed, "aw, come on, Mike. You _know_ that's my favorite kind of person!"

Mike smiled and hugged her again. "I've really missed you."

 

 

Harvey had only caught a glimpse of the beautiful woman as she got in an elevator and for some reason that he didn't really want to think about, it was bothering him. He was now sitting in his office, staring blankly at his newspaper, his mind whirring. Why the hell could he not get her out of his head? She was undoubtedly beautiful, but not the model-type he usually went for. What was it about her that had practically burned her image into his brain?

Trying to shake his thoughts, he had called Mike to bring him the paperwork for the Reynolds acquisition. The kid had actually tried to stall him? Who the hell did he think he was? He knew better than that. He was checking his watch for the third time, when he felt that strange pull again. Something, well _someone_ , was drawing his attention. He looked up to see _her_ standing at Donna's desk! With Mike!

Two thoughts flashed briefly through his mind. The first being, he couldn't believe his dumb luck that not only had he found her again, but she was standing right outside his office. The second was, what the hell was she doing with the kid?

Mike chose that moment to come into his office, so Harvey tried to push his thoughts aside. "Here's the paperwork on Reynolds." He dropped it onto Harvey's desk.

"You sure took your time," Harvey snapped. His eyes inadvertently darted back to Donna's desk. She was still there talking with Donna.

"… be sending over the financials later today."

'Shit,' thought Harvey, he'd completely missed what the kid had said. He chose to answer with a noncommittal, "fine." Then, glancing back at Donna's desk, "who's your friend?"

"Uh," Mike really didn't want to do this with the mood Harvey was in, "well…"

"She what kept you from getting the files to me when I needed them?"

Mike sighed, clearly Harvey wasn't going to let this go, so he resigned himself to answering Harvey's questions. "That's my little sis, Sam. She just got back to the city and she stopped in to surprise me. I'm sorry, I didn't know she was coming."

"You never mentioned you had a sister," Harvey was sure he'd have remembered that. And, how in God's name did the kid have a sister that looked like _that_? Seeing her from this distance, she was even more gorgeous than he'd first thought.

"Uh, well, see, technically speaking, or I guess, biologically speaking, she's my cousin, but we grew up together and have always been really close, so I think of her as my sister."

"I see," Harvey said with a nod. "What's she talking to Donna about?" Harvey really hoped he was coming off as his usually cool self, because he sure wasn't feeling that way.

Mike was slightly confused about why Harvey was asking so many questions about Sam, but figured it was better to just answer than provoke him with the mood he was in. "Oh. Well, like I said, she just moved back to town, and she's got a degree in Elementary Education, and I was hoping, with all of her connections, that maybe Donna might know of a job or apartment for her."

Harvey nodded again, staring blankly at the papers Mike had brought him. "Did you need anything else," Mike queried.

"What? You can introduce her to Donna, but not to me?" Harvey got up and strode over to the door leaving Mike to follow with a belated, "uh, sure, okay." Harvey was giving him a headache today.

As the two men walked up to Donna's desk, she and Sam had their heads together and were laughing conspiratorially. Mike did not like the looks of this at all, he knew this was not going to bode well for him. Mike reached Sam's side and Donna looked up at him, "well, hello there… _Dorothy_ ," which prompted another round of giggles and loud groan from Mike.

He looked at his watch, then at Sam, "really? You've been here like 30 minutes, and you're already telling stories? Stop it."

"I told you he hates it," Sam said leaning over to Donna and both of them just grinned.

"Anyway," Mike said annoyed, "Sam, Harvey wanted to meet you." Donna's head snapped up, had she heard Mike right? "Samantha Donovan, this is my boss, Harvey Specter. Harvey, this is my little sister, Sam."

She elbowed him hard before reaching her hand out to Harvey, "seriously, Mike? When are you gonna drop the 'little'? I'm only 8 months younger than you!"

Harvey smirked as he took her outstretched hand in his, "pleasure to meet you, Sam." He loved how she put the kid in his place.

"And you, Mr. Specter," she returned. He was pretty much what she'd expected from what Mike had told her about him – very well dressed, slick, and suave. But, what Mike didn't tell her was how incredibly handsome he was. She made a snap judgment that he was probably the kind that only dated supermodels. She sighed inwardly, 'too bad he's probably a pompous, arrogant ass.'

For his part, Harvey couldn't get over the sparkling green eyes that held his attention. There was a wisdom there that surprised him. "So, Mike says that you're just moving back to the city?"

"Yes. I came straight here from the airport to surprise Mike. He thought I wasn't coming in until next week." At this, Mike slipped his arm around her shoulders and squeezed, then kissed her on the forehead.

"Best. Surprise. Ever.," he stated with a huge grin.

"Anyway, I've taken up enough of your time. I'm sure you have plenty for Mike to do." Looking up at Mike she asked, "do you think you might get a lunch today?"

"Uh…" he glanced at Harvey.

"Why not? I mean it is your first day back," Harvey replied.

"Really?" Mike couldn't believe he'd heard Harvey right. What was with him today? First he bites his head off and now he's letting him take a lunch?

"Sure. I'll tell you what, why don't you take my reservation at Aureole?" Both Mike and Donna's eyebrows shot up at that one. "Better yet, why don't we all go? My treat."

That was just too much, Donna and Mike both blurted, "WHAT?" at the same time. Harvey had been trying to find a subtle way to work his way into spending some time with Sam, but apparently he wasn't nearly subtle enough. 'Damn, she's really throwing me off my game,' he thought shooting a glare at Donna.

Sam was slightly startled by Mike and Donna's response, but she also felt like she was being played. For some reason, she had the very strong feeling that Mike's boss was trying to impress her. What she didn't know was why, what she did know was throwing money and fancy restaurants at her, was _not_ the way to do it. Before Mike could say anything, she simply said, "thank you, Mr. Specter, but that's not really my kind of place." And before Harvey could reply, she turned to Mike, "meet me at Island's at 1?"

Mike's head was spinning, what the hell was going on? "Uh, yeah, sounds good."

She turned to Donna and smiled brightly, "thanks so much for the suggestions, I really appreciate it!"

"No problem, let me know how it goes."

"I will. See you at 1:00, Mike." With that, Sam turned and headed back towards the elevators.

Donna and Mike were both staring at Harvey in shock. He'd noticed, but tried to ignore it and walked back into his office. "What the," Mike started to ask Donna, to which she replied, "no idea, but you can bet that I'm sure as hell gonna find out!"

 

 


	2. Chapter 2

Donna had liked the young woman instantly, and when she had started spilling secrets about Mike, she knew they were going to get along fabulously. She didn't use her contacts for just anybody, but she had a good feeling about Sam, and happily gave her the names of a couple of Principal's that were looking for teachers.

But, Donna hadn't gotten anything out of Harvey, and she knew full well something was going on with her boss. She'd never seen him act like that around any woman, let alone someone as down to earth and normal as Sam. She had done her best to grill him about it, but he had steadfastly kept his mouth shut. Donna wasn't about to give up though. She was Donna after all, and she knew all.

 

Harvey had put up with Donna's annoying questions and needling for a couple of days, and the only thing she ever got from him was a very exasperated look. That didn't mean that he hadn't thought about that day himself and wondered what the hell had been wrong with him. He was around beautiful women all the time and had never been flustered like that. He decided to chalk it up to an off day and leave it that. He figured he probably wouldn't see her again anyway, and he refused to think about why that bothered him so much.

 

The next time Harvey saw Sam was completely unexpected. He was in his office going over some files at his desk, when movement caught his eye. She was coming down the hall towards his office and he did his best to ignore the way his pulse sped up. She was dressed in a deep plum colored blouse, a black pencil skirt, and had the top of her hair pulled away from her face. She looked gorgeous.

She was also carrying something and, as she reached Donna's desk, he realized it was one of those iced coffee things that Donna loved and little bag from her favorite bakery. He watched her, as surreptitiously as he could, as she reached over and put them on Donna's desk. Donna gasped like she'd just been given the Hope Diamond. She looked up quickly at Sam with a huge smile.

Sam was almost giddy when she said, "I got the job!"

"You did? That's wonderful," Donna replied brightly.

"Well, I'm quite sure your recommendation helped. I truly appreciate it, Donna. Thank you so much."

"You're welcome. I could tell you'd be a good fit for them."

"Well, as just a small token of my gratitude," she pointed at the items she'd put on her desk. "Mike told me your favorites," she said happily.

"Well, thank you, but it wasn't necessary. That being said, you are a goddess!"

Harvey had tried to ignore their conversation and concentrate on the files in front of him, but it was pointless. The more he heard how happy and excited Sam was, the more he wanted to be around her. Finally, picking up a paper off his desk, he walked out to Donna's.

"Donna, did you send…," he trailed off as he pretended that he hadn't realized Sam was there. "Oh, hello again, Samantha, isn't it? Mike's not here, he's meeting with a client."

"Hello, Mr. Specter. No, I actually stopped by to see Donna for just a minute."

"Oh?" For reasons he didn't really want to think about too much, he really wanted to know what had made her so happy. If it was something Donna had done, maybe by extension, then he had had something to do with it.

"You are now looking at the new 1st Grade teacher at PS 87," Donna said with a flourish. Sam shrugged and smiled brightly.

"Well, congratulations," Harvey said, giving her one of his best dimpled smiles.

"Thank you. But, I'm sure I owe it, at least in part, to Donna."

Donna started to protest when Harvey chimed in, "well, as good as I'm sure you are, Donna is always a good person to have in your corner." Damn, it didn't have a thing in the world to do with him.

"I have no doubt of that," Sam replied honestly.

"So when do you start," asked Donna.

"They have a break coming up in a couple of weeks, so I'll start after that, about 3 weeks. It gives me time to find a place, hopefully spend a little time with Mike," she shot a look at Harvey, "and get the things I'll need for my classroom."

"Wonderful," Donna exclaimed.

"Well, I better get going. Do me a favor and don't tell Mike? I haven't had a chance to talk to him yet."

"No problem."

As she turned to leave, she heard a deep voice say, "well, it sounds to me like a celebration is in order." She turned back to Harvey as Donna's head shot up. "Why don't I take you to lunch?" He felt Donna's gaze on him, but purposely ignored her.

Sam looked at him, slightly confused, "uh, no, I don't think so."

"Come on. I'll take you to the Gotham Bar and Grill." He then gave her his most devastating smile, the one that never failed him.

Sam could actually see him ratchet up the charm, like he thought that was all it would take. "Again, no. Thank you."

He stepped around Donna's desk, swagger in full effect and charm radiating off him in waves. "Alright... you pick the place."

"Really," she asked in disbelief, and Harvey nodded, missing her sarcasm. Sam folded her arms in front of her, tilted her head, and raised an eyebrow. 'Shit,' thought Harvey. He knew that look, it was the same one Donna had when she was about to give him hell. "So, you think because you're relatively handsome, have money, and, apparently think you're charming, that I'm just going to fall all over myself to except an invitation to lunch with you?" She stopped like she expected him to answer, but he wasn't about to fall into that trap! "The answer is still no, Mr. Specter." She turned to Donna and was immediately her friendly, polite self again, "thanks again, Donna, I owe you one!"

"Anytime," Donna said, trying valiantly to stifle a laugh. With that, Sam turned and headed back towards the elevators. Harvey stood there another moment, trying to figure out exactly what just happened. "I think you just met the only other woman in this town that is immune to the great Harvey Specter's charm," she did laugh now. Harvey shot her a glare and stalked back into his office.

 

When she got a hold of Mike that afternoon, he insisted on taking her out for a celebratory dinner at her favorite restaurant, Puttanesca. They were seated at a quiet table in the corner enjoying a glass of wine. "I'm so happy you're back, and so proud of you for getting that job!" Mike's grin could not have been bigger.

"I am too, on both counts" she beamed and clinked their glasses before taking a sip.

"So, when do you start?"

"A few weeks. Hopefully, I'll find a place and be able to get settled before that, but we'll see." Their food arrived and there were a few minutes of comfortable silence as they enjoyed it. "So, can I ask you something," Sam queried.

"Anything, you know that."

"If you're doing so well at the firm, why didn't you get the hell outta that crappy little apartment?"

Mike shook his head, "first of all, it really isn't that bad," Sam rolled her eyes, "and second, Gram needed better care more than I need a new apartment. You know I'll do whatever I have to take care of her."

Sam smiled warmly, "I'll have to go see her in the next couple of days. I've missed her. I know that you feel she's your sole responsibility," she reached across and rubbed the back of Mike's hand, "but I care about her too. If you need help, I'm happy to. She was always better to me than my own Grandmother!"

"I appreciate it, really I do, but she took such good care of me after Mom and Dad died, this is my chance to return it, you know?"

"I do, but the offer stands." Then, squeezing his hand tightly, "Я всегда здесь для вас," [I'm always here for you.]

"Я знаю," [I know] and as he returned the squeeze of her hand, "Я люблю тебя." [I love you.]. He loved it when they spoke Russian. It was their thing, just between the two them. Mike flashed back to the day, when he was about 10, that he'd found that Russian dictionary on the sidewalk on their way home from school. They couldn't figure out who it had belonged to, so he'd kept it. As two young New Yorkers, they'd never heard anyone speak Russian, to them it was a very exotic language. So, they decided it would be their own 'secret language.' Mike had read it and then taught it to Sam. They had loved the looks they got from the other school kids, and even some of the teachers, when they spoke to each other and no one else could understand what they were saying. It was one more thing that tied the two of them together.


	3. Chapter 3

Harvey had been irritable and quick tempered for the better part of a week and when even winning the Sainz Pharmaceutical case hadn't lightened his mood, Donna decided enough was enough. She'd had her fill of being barked at, that was what Mike was for. She walked into his office, closing the door behind her, causing Harvey to look up. "What?" 'Again with the barking,' she thought.

Standing in front of his desk with her best 'I'm not leaving until you pull your head out of your ass' look on her face, she didn't mince words when she asked, "what the hell is wrong with you?"

Harvey narrowed his eyes, "what did you just say to me?"

"We both know what I just said, and I want an answer."

They stared at each other for a tense moment before Harvey looked back down at the file he'd been reading and responded, "nothing's wrong. Get out."

"No," his eyes shot back up to her, "and I'm not sure if you're trying to lie to me or just lying to yourself, but we've know each other far too long, Harvey. What is it?"

He sighed heavily, tossing the file onto his desk. "You know, there are times when the fact that you know me so well is not an asset." Donna smirked at that. "The truth?" She nodded. "I really have no idea."

"What do you mean," Donna was slightly concerned now. Not only was it unlike Harvey to be so cranky, but to admit he didn't know something was absolutely unheard of!

"Just what I said, I don't know. I'm trying to get a handle on it, but haven't yet."

"Tell you what, why don't we go out after work, have a couple drinks, relax," she suggested.

Harvey smiled at that. "We haven't done that in quite a while."

"Exactly. I think we're long overdue."

"Sure, why not."

She turned to head back to her desk, but turned back to him as she reached for the door, "and, dial down the bitchiness, Harvey, or you'll be wearing your drink tonight."

The corners of his mouth turned up only slightly, so she couldn't see it. It was reassuring to know that some things never change.

 

 

Sam and Melissa were seated across from Mike and Rachel, at a table towards the back of the bar. Sam had heard a lot about Rachel from Mike and she was happy to get the chance to meet her. She could see why her brother was so taken with the pretty paralegal - not only was she beautiful, but she was also intelligent, clever, and had a great sense of humor.

She was just finishing the story about posing as Mike's wife, when something behind her caught Sam's eye. 'Damn,' she thought, 'maybe he won't see us.'

This was also the exact moment that Mike decided they needed their drinks refilled, so when he turned to the bar, of course, he saw them. Waving and hurrying over to them, he half yelled, "Harvey, Donna, what are you doing here?"

"Just stopped by to grab a drink, rookie," Harvey replied, trying not to sound too annoyed.

Sam sighed loudly, she really hoped that Mike didn't invite them to join them. "What's the matter," Rachel asked, hearing her.

"I'm just really hoping that Mike doesn't invite his boss to join us. I love Donna, but his boss is an arrogant ass," she answered, brutally honest.

"Harvey?" Rachel was surprised to hear Sam's assessment of the man, most women adored Harvey.

"Yes, Mr. Specter. He just irritates me – he's so cocky and egocentric, it's ridiculous."

"You're serious," Rachel said and Sam nodded her reply. "He can be pretty good at fooling people, according to Donna. He cares, he just won't let anyone see it."

Sam laughed at that, "oh, and how's that?"

"Like with Mike – he won't say anything to him, but he does things like going after Louis for threatening him or paying for the Rookie Dinner for him, stuff like that."

Sam's eyes widened, "are you serious? He paid for Mike's rookie dinner?"

Rachel nodded, "among other things, from what I've heard."

Before Sam really had a chance to process this information or ask Rachel anything further, Mike arrived back at their table with, of course, Harvey and Donna in tow.

Harvey had tried politely to turn the kid down, but he wasn't taking no for an answer, and when Donna saw Sam was with him, she made his decision for him. "Hi everyone," Donna said brightly to the table. They all shifted around making room for the duo. And, of course, it just so happened that Harvey ended up sitting next to Sam. She sighed inwardly, 'wonderful.'

There was a round of hellos and Sam introduced Melissa. "So, what are you guys up to tonight," Donna asked brightly.

"Not much," Mike replied, "just hanging out."

Of course that garnered a smirk from Harvey, which Sam had a front row seat to. It irritated her and she was damn well going to call him on it. "And, what's wrong with 'just hanging out,' Mr. Specter? What exactly are your grand plans for the evening?"

Harvey had been glad that he had finagled it so that he ended up sitting next to Sam, but now… he wasn't so sure it had been a good idea. Why, oh why, did she seem to be completely impervious to his charm? And, worse yet, she outright called him on his bullshit. Turning to her with his most seductive smile and keeping his voice low and sexy, he replied, "I actually don't have any plans for the evening, Miss Donovan. Is that an invitation?"

Now, if anyone else dared to speak to Sam that way, Mike would have given them, at minimum a, "DUDE, that's my sister!" at worst, a nice right hook. But, this was Harvey, his boss, how the hell was he supposed to handle this?

Mike needn't have worried though because, as he well knew, Sam could more than take care of herself. Her voice all but dripped sex as she slid her hand to Harvey's thigh, leaned closer and half-whispered, "what did you have in mind?" Harvey's eyes began to widen, because he couldn't believe that had actually worked... and then came the pain. Sam was ever so insistently grinding the stiletto heel of her boot into the top of Harvey's foot.

Although he kept his composure, he reached down and squeezed her leg right above her knee as he cleared his throat. Sam was wearing her most innocent smile when she said, "remove your hand first." He did as he was asked and Sam moved her foot away.

Harvey stood up saying, "I need another drink," and as he made his way to the bar, everyone noticed he had a definite limp.

 

 

Sam had nursed just a couple of drinks at the bar, so she was quite sober as she sat in the window seat, drinking from a bottle of water and looking out over the lights of the city. The events of the evening kept running through her mind especially what Rachel had said about Harvey – "He cares, he just won't let anyone see it." She just couldn't reconcile that with the person that she kept encountering, that had hit on her tonight. She sighed heavily.

"What's up, buttercup," asked Melissa.

"I don't know, just thinking. Can I ask you something, Mel?"

"Absolutely."

"What did you think of Mike's boss, Mr. Specter?"

Mel laughed, "you mean the guy that, thanks to you, isn't going to walk right for a week?"

Sam half chuckled, "yes, and he totally deserved that!"

"I think he's a toasted marshmallow."

Sam's eyebrows went up at that, "excuse me?"

"You know what I mean, all hard and crusty on the outside, warm and mushy underneath," Mel explained patiently.

"How exactly did you figure that out?" Sam was dying to hear this one.

Mel settled herself comfortably onto the couch, "well, he acts like a total bad ass, cocky, arrogant even. I mean, he put the moves on you right in front of Mike – not cool – but he also knew that you could handle yourself because he wouldn't have put Mike in a position to defend you against his own boss." At Sam's confused look, Mel asked, "how many times did you hear him call Mike by name?"

"I don't know, what does that have to do with anything?"

"Maybe once, he kept calling him 'kid' or 'rookie.'" Sam still looked at her as if she'd grown another head. "Nicknames, Sam. You don't make up a nickname and call someone by it, especially in public, unless you care about them." Sam was starting to see her point. "Also, he's an extreme gentleman. Did you notice how he never let any of us women get up to get our own drinks, it was always him or Mike? And, that was even after you tried to cripple him and he walked with a limp all night."

"Yeah," Sam said, thinking about the things Mel pointed out, "I guess you're right."

"Well, that's what you get for having a Psychologist for a best friend," Mel replied with a very smug grin.

"Then riddle me this, Batman," she looked pointedly at Mel, "why does he keep acting like such an ass around me?"

"Simple," she said with a shrug, "it's what he knows."

"Meaning?"

"Just what I said, it's what has always attracted women to him in the past. You know that expression 'if it ain't broke, don't fix it?'" Sam nodded. "Well, you need to show him it is broke and he needs to fix it."

"Why me," Sam asked indignantly.

Mel got up to head to her room, throwing over her shoulder, "because you _sooo_ want to!"

 

 

Donna was seated next to Harvey in the back of his Mercedes, as he'd offered to drive her home. She looked at him out of the corner of her eye, and saw him massaging the top of his still aching foot. She quickly turned to look back out the window so Harvey wouldn't see the smile on her face. She knew there was no way they were going to talk about what happened tonight. But, they really didn't need to, Donna had figured it out all on her own.

She had to admit, Harvey really did deserve what Sam did. It was pretty ballsy to hit on her right in front of her own brother. She also figured that even though his pride, and foot, were both bruised, the simple fact that she'd handled the situation herself, impressed the hell out of him. Donna silently gave Sam kudos for being almost as bad ass as she is, because that is exactly what Harvey needs.

She had figured out tonight what Harvey's problem really was, and why he couldn't see it - he was completely smitten with Samantha Donovan. Well, that wasn't so much the problem, as the fact that she was so far out of Harvey's realm of 'normal' that he couldn't see that what worked on all those airheaded cocktail waitresses and bimbo models he took home, was not going to work on Sam. She was intelligent, quick witted, and definitely NOT a one-night stand.

'Oh,' thought Donna, 'this is gonna be fun!'


	4. Chapter 4

As much as he hated to admit, Harvey was not proud of how he'd behaved the other night. He was, however, very proud of how Sam handled herself. The girl had balls. But, what was bothering him the most was why couldn't seem to stop thinking about her. He was seated at his desk, but facing the windows and staring out into the City.

What the hell was it about this girl that kept bothering him? He had his pick of women, and Sam clearly wasn't interested, so, why couldn't he just let it go? Maybe that was it? Maybe it was the simple fact that no one ever turned him down. Silently chastising himself, he shook his head, he wasn't that pathetic. Well, whatever was going on, he knew one thing for sure – he hated the idea that Sam would think of him as an obnoxious jerk. He needed to do something about that.

 

 

Donna had been unobtrusively watching Harvey since the night she'd figured it all out. She really could've kicked herself for not seeing it sooner. Looking back on it now, she realized there was a slight shift in Harvey from the moment he'd met the young woman. Nothing that anyone else would have noticed, but she should have. 'Damn it, I better not be losing my touch,' she berated herself.

It was almost comical to watch him now, she could almost see the gears turning in his head trying desperately to figure out what was going on. For someone who was such a brilliant lawyer, he sure wasn't getting this. She smiled to herself then, 'nothing that a few well-placed hints and nudges won't fix.'

"Donna," she heard Harvey call.

"You rang," she said, with only mild sarcasm as she entered his office.

"I need your help."

'Ooo, maybe I'm going to get my chance sooner than I thought!' "With what," she asked, keeping her tone as neutral as possible.

He turned to face her, a frown working his brow, "I think I really should apologize to Sam."

"I wouldn't disagree with that."

"The problem is," a heavy sigh, "I'm not sure how." Donna stifled the smile that was trying sneak out, he was such a smitten kitten. "It just seems like everything I try to do offends her or something."

"Why don't you try doing something you wouldn't normally do?"

"Like what?"

Donna pretended to think for a minute, although she already knew what she was going to say. "Well, she starts her new job next week which means she's probably going to start setting up her classroom, if she hasn't already."

"Okay," Harvey replied, with a small nod.

"Teachers don't make a lot of money, but they need a lot of supplies." Harvey continued to look at her blankly, he wasn't catching on. "Maybe you could buy a bunch of supplies for her classroom, things the kids will need."

"Because I wouldn't be spending money on her, but on the kids in her class," there was the light bulb Donna had been waiting for. "And, because it's for the kids, she likely wouldn't refuse something that would benefit them. Donna you're brilliant!"

"I know."

"There's just one more problem, though." This time it was Donna's turn to be confused. "What kind of stuff do First Graders need?"

She shook her head, "hell if I know!"

 

 

It was the Saturday before Sam was to start her new job, when she went in to start setting up her classroom. She hadn't wanted to wait so long to do it, but she had been trying desperately, and failing, to find her own place this week. Well, she wasn't going to worry about that right now, she had a lot of work to do. She glanced down at her watch, thankful that Mike would be there soon to help her out. She unlocked the door to her classroom and stopped dead in her tracks once she'd stepped inside. 'What the hell?'

She went back out into the hallway to check the number next to the door again, forgetting she had had to unlock it to get in. She was in the right classroom. She walked back into the room and couldn't believe what she was seeing. Sitting in the middle of the floor were boxes and boxes of school supplies. She walked over to them completely awestruck, where had all of this come from? Taped to the top of a bright yellow box was an envelope with Samantha Donovan printed neatly across it. She opened the envelope to find a note inside. That was when she went from being awestruck to dumbstruck.

 __

 _Dear Sam,_

 _I owe you a tremendous apology for my behavior the other night. I was completely out of line and  
you didn't deserve that, though I am admittedly impressed with how you handled yourself._

 _I hope you will accept these supplies for your classroom as my mea culpa. I'm sure that you and  
the children will put them to good use._

 _Sincerely,_

 _Harvey Specter_

"Oh. My. God." Sam breathed. Her eyes scanned the stacks and she saw boxes of crayons, markers, paper, scissors, glue, pencils, puzzles, books, posters, even a box of iPods! There were hundreds, if not thousands, of dollars worth of supplies here. Everything she could ever want or need.

Mike announced himself with a low whistle. "Wow! Where'd you get all this stuff?"

She simply handed Mike the note, not sure what to say yet. As, she did that, she caught sight of the table along the back wall set up with 4 brand new, state of the art computers. "Oh my God," she squeaked out before her hand flew to her mouth. Mike looked up and saw the computers, too. He looked back down at the note, "well, that's Harvey. He likes to apologize in a big way. Actually, he likes to do everything in a big way."

She turned back to Mike with a stricken look on her face, "what am I going to do?"

Mike shrugged, "what do you mean?"

"I can't keep all of this! Those computers alone must be, what, $15,000? Not to mention everything else. It's too much, Mike, I can't keep it."

He took her by the elbow and led her over to a chair as he took the one opposite her. "First of all, take a breath for me." He smiled when she did as he asked. "Ok, second, you have to keep it," he raised his hand to stop her as she started to interrupt him, "and I'll tell you why. Harvey doesn't make grand gestures, he doesn't do things to make himself look good." Sam quirked and eyebrow at that because everything she'd seen thus far completely contradicted that. Mike gave her a stern look, "trust me, he doesn't. He does, however, have a strong sense of honor, of right and wrong. He's admitting what he did the other night was wrong and this is his way of making it right." He could see his words were starting to sink in, so he continued. "If you refuse this stuff, you're telling him there is no way to make it right and he won't accept that. Trust me, your best course of action is to keep everything and simply thank him. Otherwise, he'll likely do something even bigger."

Sam smiled at him then, "but, it's just so much!"

"See that's just it though, it's not to Harvey. It's not that he cares about money, it's that he likes what having money affords him the luxury of doing – like buying you supplies for your classroom, paying for my Rookie Dinner, stuff like that." Sam was shaking her head now, she was starting to think she had been completely wrong about Harvey Specter. "Now, are you ready to get this stuff organized and set up?"

"You're sure about this?" At Mike's nod, she said, "well, I guess we better get to it, huh?"

"Oh, one more thing," Mike said, picking up a box, "this conversation stays between you and me. If Harvey knew what I just told you, he wouldn't just fire me. He'd also thoroughly kick my ass!"

Sam laughed at that and picked up a box to start sorting. 'Maybe Mel was right, maybe he is a toasted marshmallow.'

 

 

That evening when she got home, she was tired and sweaty and just wanted a hot bath, but there was something she had to do first. She took the small slip of paper out of her pocket and looked at the number Mike had written there. She took a deep breath and dialed her phone. He picked up on the second ring, "Harvey Specter."

"Uh, hi, Mr. Specter, it's Sam Donovan."

"Hi Sam," she could have sworn it sounded like he was smiling. Then she heard the music. 'It's Saturday night, of course, he's on a date,' she berated herself.

"Oh, I'm sorry, if you're busy…"

"No," he cut her off before she could finish. "I was just listening to some music. Hang on, let me turn it down." She heard the music disappear, then, "so, what can I do for you?"

"I just wanted to call and say thank you for all of the supplies for my classroom. It was incredibly generous, though totally unnecessary. Thank you, Mr. Specter."

With what she thought sounded like mild annoyance, he said, "first of all, please call me Harvey." He paused waiting for her to reply, "ok… Harvey."

"Thank you, and second, I owed you an apology, so it was necessary. Was there anything we missed that you need?"

Sam settled onto the couch, "we?"

"Well, you didn't think I would know what to buy a bunch of First Graders, did you," he asked with a chuckle, "that's why I have Donna to save my ass."

It was Sam's turn to laugh now, "no, she did an excellent job." Then, more seriously, "the computers… iPods…everything, it's just incredible. Thank you."

"You're welcome," he said, simply. "So, are you all set for the big day?"

"Getting there, Mike spent the better part of today helping me clean and organize. Couple of more hours tomorrow should do it." Then without thinking, she said, "since you're our unofficial benefactor, you're welcome to stop by anytime and check everything out." 'Like he's ever going to set foot in a public elementary school classroom,' she chastised herself.

"You never know, I might just do that" and she could hear his smile again. "So, does this mean I'm forgiven?"

"That depends…"

"on?"

"Whether you forgive me for trying to cripple you? I'm sorry about your foot." And, then she heard him laugh! A warm, gravely sound that made her stomach flip.

After a few seconds, he collected himself enough to reply, "there's nothing to forgive, I deserved it. I probably deserved worse."

"Yeah, actually you did." He laughed again and Sam thought she could listen to that sound all day.

"So, we're good," came Harvey's voice again.

"We're good." And, because she didn't want to hang up yet, though she wasn't sure why, she asked him, "so, what were you listening to?"

"A little Texas blues, why?"

"Early or late?"

"Late." Oh, little did she know that she had Harvey's absolutely undivided attention now!

"Male or Female?

"Male." Sam was loving how confused yet awed he sounded.

"Group or Individual?"

"Individual that led a group."

"Seriously, if you know what's good for you, you'd better say it's Stevie Ray Vaughn or I've completely lost all respect for you," Sam threatened.

"Oh my God, you know music," he half-whispered, completely dumbfounded.

"What, only high-powered, corporate attorneys can appreciate good music?" She was really trying not to laugh.

She heard him clear his throat, then, "no! I mean, I've just never met a woman who shared my taste in music."

"That's because you never met a woman like me. Goodnight, Harvey," and she hung up the phone, smiling to herself because she was pretty sure she had him off balance again.

 

 

She met Mike the next afternoon to finish up the few things that were left. She was dressed for hard work and comfort in her oldest pair of jeans and a well-worn t-shirt, her hair piled up on her head. He had gone to see if he could find a stepladder so that they wouldn't have to stand on the desks, but as usual, Sam wasn't patient enough to wait. So, there she stood, on top of a desk hanging something when she heard a low voice say, "need any help?" She jumped just enough for her feet to slip out from under her, and with a yelp she started to fall. But, instead of landing on the hard floor like she expected, she was being held by strong arms and cradled against a warm chest. When she looked up, she was staring into beautiful brown eyes that crinkled at the corners. "Falling for me already," Harvey asked in that same deep, sexy voice he'd used on her that night at the bar. All Sam could do at that moment was blink at him, completely mesmerized.

Mike heard Sam and was coming down the hall yelling, "Sam, are you okay? I heard…," he trailed off as he came through the door to see Harvey holding his sister in his arms, both of them oblivious to Mike, even with the yelling. He cleared his throat loudly, "uh, everything okay?"

Harvey blinked, mentally shaking himself out of the daze, "are you alright," he asked Sam as he carefully set her on her feet.

"Uh, yeah, thank you."

"Harvey, what are you doing here," Mike asked in total confusion.

"Sam said I could come down and check things out whenever I wanted, so I thought I'd see if you needed any help."

"Dressed like that," Sam asked, looking him up and down. He was wearing dark designer jeans and a hunter green button down shirt with the sleeves rolled up exposing his forearms, and damn, but he looked good. At her perusal, something clenched low in Harvey's belly. Well, he could give as good as he got. "I should've dressed more like you?" Letting his eyes roam over her body was a severe miscalculation on his part, because although she was wearing old and well-worn clothes, they clung to her curves in a way that suddenly made Harvey's mouth go dry.

At this point, Mike chimed in, "ok, you're both pretty, can we finish this please?"

"Yeah," Sam answered, then to Harvey, "you really want to help?"

"Absolutely."

"Ok, but you're not going to whine if your clothes get dirty, are you," Sam quipped.

"I'll do my best," Harvey answered, rolling his eyes.

They worked for the next couple of hours, and by the time they were finished, they were all a little dirty, a little sweaty, and a lot tired. Mike looked at his watch, "oh crap! Sam, I gotta go, I promised Rachel I'd meet her for dinner."

"No, it's fine. Go on, we're good." She gave him a big hug and as he turned to leave she winked at him and said, "ничего не делайте, я не сделал бы." ["Don't do anything I wouldn't do."]

"бы не мечтал об этом." ["Wouldn't dream of it."]

She giggled and yelled, "Я люблю тебя, Майк!" ["I love you, Mike!"]

"назад на тебя!" ["Back at ya!"]

She grabbed two bottles of water off her desk and offered one to Harvey. Then she sat down on the multi-colored carpet she used for her kids, stretching her legs out in front of her. She was surveying their handiwork, when her eyes settled on him. The look on his face was priceless, and she started to laugh, "what?"

"What the hell… Russian? You speak Russian?" For some reason, this completely shocked him. How many more surprises did she have up her sleeve?

Still laughing a little, she replied, "да [Yes]. It's kind of a thing with Mike and me. We learned it when we were kids, we've always used it like a 'secret' language. Do you?"

"No. But, you are the teacher, maybe you could teach me," his voice lowered again and she knew if she didn't change the subject, she would be in trouble.

"The kids are going to flip out tomorrow when they see all of this stuff. They probably won't know what to use first!"

Harvey noticed the change in subject, but let it go. "Can I ask you something about this stuff," motioning around the room.

"Of course, you bought it."

"I was wondering about the computers and the iPods. I mean we're talking about, what 6 or 7 year olds?"

"Oh my gosh, you wouldn't believe how excited they get about electronics!" She sat up now, tucking her feet under her, and Harvey loved how animated she suddenly was. "We use the computers to help us assess their language and math skills through games, puzzles, all kinds of activities. The iPods are a similar tool, but more individualized – we can use them to help the kids who need extra support in specific areas, tailor them to kids that are gifted so they're challenged, we can even use them to teach them a foreign language!"

She stopped when she noticed that Harvey was just smiling at her, "what?"

"You really love what you do, don't you?" He was a little stunned by her passion for her work.

"Don't you?"

"Of course, but I think it's different. My satisfaction comes from winning, besting opposing counsel. What drives you?" There was something in his voice that let her know he was being sincere, that he genuinely wanted to know.

She got up and walked over to him, "I've never felt anything more incredible than seeing a child who has struggled, and fought, and tried so desperately to learn something, the moment they finally succeed. That moment of pure, unadulterated joy… it's everything."

Harvey took a step towards her so they were just inches apart, "you're amazing," he breathed. He was just about to lean in and kiss her, when his phone rang. He pulled it out of his pocket and saw it was Jessica, "I'm sorry, I have to take this."

Stepping back so she could clear her head, "of course, it's fine." She went to gather he things from her desk while he took his call. "Ready to go," she asked as he was hanging up.

"Yeah," he sighed, the moment was definitely gone, "do you need a ride home?"

"No, I'm good. Thanks for coming down and helping today."

"Anytime."

"Oh, Harvey, these are First Graders… be careful what you offer," she replied with a chuckle.

 

 

When she walked into her classroom the next morning, there was something on her desk. The first thing she noticed was an apple with a sticky note attached that read, "Have the BEST first day ever! Love, M." He always knew what cute little thing would make her smile.

The other thing she noticed was a CD with a note attached. "Sam, These are some of my favorites, I thought you might like them too. I hope you and your kids have a wonderful first day. Harvey" Warmth flooded through her, making her skin tingle. Today was definitely going to be a good day!


	5. Chapter 5

It had been a very successful, but incredibly busy couple of weeks for Sam as she settled into her teaching position. She had a wonderful group of kids who were like little sponges, just soaking up everything she could show them. The down side was, although she had texted and even called Mike a few times, they hadn't had time to get together and see each other. She'd even gotten a text from Harvey at the end of her first day asking how it had gone, but she hadn't seen or spoken to him either.

So, it was late on Friday afternoon when she texted Mike,  
 ** _get together tonight? movie & pizza?_**

She was disappointed when he replied,  
 ** _sorry, can't. big case. love you._**

She smiled,  
 ** _love u 2!_**

She checked her watch and seeing that it was only about 5:30, she decided to run by Melissa's, change out of her 'teacher clothes,' pick up a pizza, and stop by Pearson Hardman. Mike would still have to eat (she knew he didn't take care of himself the way he should) and maybe should see him for a couple minutes. She deliberately pushed the hope of possibly seeing Harvey out of her mind.

  


A little over an hour later she stepped out of the elevator, carrying Mike's favorite cheese-in-the-crust pizza. She headed for his cubicle, but when he wasn't there, she decided to head for Harvey's office. 'Hey, it's not my fault if that's where he is,' she thought, smiling to herself. Her smile quickly faded as she neared his office though. She could hear Harvey yelling and she was still a good 20 feet from Donna's desk. Donna shook her head forcefully as Sam approached her desk, "not a good time," but, she almost didn't hear her over Harvey.

"What the hell were you thinking? You told me you went over those financials and there was nothing!"

She could see that Mike was in Harvey's office, along with a shorter man, also wearing a suit. And, although the door was closed, she had no problem hearing Harvey as he paced the floor.

"Harvey, I did…," Mike tried to interrupt.

"I don't want to hear it!" Mike flinched slightly as Harvey continued to yell. "Your God damn job is to make sure that I don't get blindsided like that. I will NOT lose because YOU screwed this up!" Then, turning to the other man, "and Louis, how the hell did you ever make Partner when your head is clearly up your ass? You had no business going to Latham behind my back! If you had kept your weasely little nose out of this, then we would still have him to testify and Mike's little mistake wouldn't have nearly cost us this trial!" Louis opened his mouth to respond, but before he could Harvey bellowed, "get the hell out of my office!" Turning to Mike again, "you need to go put that freak brain of yours to work and figure out some way to fix this, or don't bother coming to work tomorrow!"

Mike stormed out of the office and didn't even see Sam. When Harvey turned to yell, "Donna, get...," his words trailed off as he saw her. The look on her face, made his stomach drop. 'Shit.' She was looking at him with a horrid mixture of confusion, anger, and something else he wasn't sure of. As he stepped out of his office, her word's hit him like a slap in the face, "who are you?"

"Sam, you don't understand, it's just..."

"business? Oh, I understand perfectly," she said, cutting him off. "I also understand that you're not half the man I was starting to think you were." She turned intending to head to Mike's cubicle, but Harvey grabbed her elbow, "Sam, wait." She wheeled on him, and through gritted teeth ground out, "don't. touch. me." He immediately let her go, knowing now was not the time to press her. He watched her walk away, then stalked back into his office. He sat down heavily in his desk chair, turning to the windows. As he stared out the window, he realized now what he'd see in Sam's eyes – hurt and disappointment. He had let her down. 'God damn it! Now how the hell am I gonna fix this mess?'

 

 

Sam found Mike at his desk pouring over a stack of papers. "Hey, you ok?" His head shot up in surprise.

"Sam? What are you doing here?"

"Well, I stopped by to bring you this," she handed him the pizza box, "but, I also just witnessed that absolutely ridiculous ass-chewing you just got."

"What? How?"

"You didn't see me, I was standing by Donna. I came looking for you when you weren't here and heard Harvey's tirade." Mike saw her eyes flash with anger.

"Oh, shit, I'm sorry," Mike said weakly.

"Why are you sorry? I can't believe him! The way he spoke to you both was completely uncalled for, he's such a jackass," she ranted at Mike.

"Sam, you don't understand, it's just business."

"Jesus, you sound like him! It's not okay to talk to people like that!"

Mike held up a hand stopping her, "Sam, I love you for worrying about me, but I'm fine. I really have to get back to this though," he said, tapping the papers in front of him.

Sam sighed, "fine. I'll talk to you later. Remember to eat something."

She started to walk away when Mike called to her, "Sam, we'll talk about this later. I promise." She shrugged and headed to the elevator.

When the doors opened, she stepped inside, and leaned back against the wall. As the doors closed, her resolve started to crumble and a tear slipped down her cheek. 'Damn Harvey Specter for making me right about him!'

  


Sam texted Mike the next morning,  
 ** _you free to go apt. hunting w/me today?_**

It was a little more than half an hour before she heard back from him,  
 ** _sure, give me 20._**

 _  
**Ok, meet me at 1478 Hanover.**   
_

_  
**K.**   
_

They looked at 4 different apartments, with Sam deciding that she loved the last one. It was early evening when Sam finished signing the lease paperwork, so they decided to get some dinner. Neither of them had brought up the incident from the previous day and it was hanging over them like a fog. That had resulted in tension between them and Sam resented it, they were never like this.

They were settling into a booth at Islands and Sam wasted no time in getting right to the point. "So, exactly how do you plan on convincing me that yesterday was entirely your fault?"

"Getting right to it, huh," Mike asked, taking a drink of his soda.

"Well, I feel pretty confident in saying that this hasn't been one of our best days. And, to be completely honest, it's pissing me off."

"Really? I couldn't tell," Mike rolled his eyes at her. "Look, days like yesterday aren't a regular occurrence."

"Well, I hope not or I'd label you a masochist."

"The truth is I did screw up and Harvey had every right to rip into me. Let me finish," he stopped her when she tried to interrupt, "was he right for yelling at me – yes, does he expect a lot from me – no more than I expect of myself, was he a little harsh – maybe, but that's also how you know he cares. If he didn't give a damn, he wouldn't say anything at all."

Sam couldn't believe him, "seriously? Want to hear my take?"

"Go ahead," Mike replied with a sigh.

"Okay, so you may have screwed up, we all do. But, he wouldn't listen to you when you tried to explain, called you a freak, and threatened your job! I'm not a lawyer Mike and even I know that that's harassment. Not to mention what he said to that other guy."

Mike smirked a little at her mention of Louis, that had been the best part of Harvey's tirade. "Well, as far as Louis goes, trust me when I say he has done and deserves worse." Sam's eyebrows went up at that, but she let it go. "Sam, I love you for worrying about me, but you need to believe me when I say that I can handle this job and Harvey."

It was Sam's turn to sigh heavily, putting hands up in mock surrender, she said, "alright, fine. Have it your way. But, you say the word and I will totally kick his ass!"

Mike laughed, he didn't doubt if for a second.

 

 

Sam wasn't going to be able to move into her new place until the following weekend, so she decided to spend her Sunday doing one of her favorite things – wandering New York City. She had missed the City nearly as much as she'd missed Mike. Sam was sure there was no other place like it, it had a personality all its own. On days like today, she loved to wander, people watch, and just soak in the energy. She started at her favorite coffee shop, enjoying her cappuccino and the paper. She sat for nearly an hour watching a sweet little elderly couple sip coffee and chatter away, all the while holding hands. They were so cute, and it made her heart tighten in her chest, she hoped she'd find that one day.

It was early afternoon when she found herself in Central Park. She was watching two little girls play with their dog, when she heard the unmistakable sound of a bluesy saxophone. She followed the inviting sound and found a quartet that had set up a small concert area with about a dozen chairs.

She'd been sitting there enjoying the warm, sultry melodies when she heard a deep, gravelly voice in her ear, "is this seat taken?" She closed her eyes and sighed inwardly, because, 'shit!' she knew that voice.

She looked up in to the uncertain, chocolate brown eyes of Harvey Specter. "No," she said simply, and as he sat down, she stood up and began to walk away. In that moment, Harvey realized this was not going to be as easy as he'd hoped.

He took a few long strides to catch up with her, leaving the quartet behind them. "Sam, can I please talk to you?"

"No. And, how did you even find me? Are you stalking me?"

"No, actually, it was just dumb luck." She was glaring daggers at him, and now he wasn't so sure that he'd been lucky at all. "Just give me 5 minutes, then I'll leave you alone."

She stopped and turned to face him, "five minutes?" Harvey nodded. "Five minutes and I never have to talk to you again?"

Not what he wanted to hear, but he replied, "not if you don't want to."

Sam looked at her watch then back to Harvey, "fine. Five minutes. Go."

Damn, she wasn't messing around. "I was an arrogant ass the other day, I know that." Sam's eyebrows when up at that, not a bad opening statement, he knew he had her attention. "Look, the truth is every lawyer has an ego complex. We'd had a bad day in Court and I don't lose. I was pissed off and I took it out on Mike. But, you also have to understand that it's not like that every day. The tougher the case, the more I rely on Mike. And yes, I expect a lot from him, but that's because I know he's capable of doing that and much more." She was just looking at him, her expression unreadable, he had no idea if he was getting through to her or not. "Sam, sometimes it's necessary in our line of work to be hard and uncompromising assholes. That's what that was… the job."

Sam had listened to everything he'd said. She had to admit that he had a valid argument, every lawyer she'd ever met, the single exception being Mike, was a ruthless, unyielding prick. And, Mike had told her several times that Harvey was the best closer in the city, probably because he was tough and a badass. All of this, combined with what Mike had said, made her think. "So, you're asking me to forget about what happened?"

"No, not forget, but chalk it up to Harvey Specter the Lawyer, not Harvey Specter the Man." He didn't know why, but he felt a desperate need for her to believe him. "Look, I've already squared things with Mike, I'd like the chance to do the same with you."

"What did you have in mind?"

"Anything you want Sam, name it."

A slow, if slightly devious, smile made its way to her lips, "anything?"

'Oh shit,' what the hell was he getting himself into? He tilted his head, trying to read her and figure out what she was up to, but she was good, he didn't have a clue. Against his considerably better judgment, he sighed and said, "yes, anything."

There was a twinkle in her eye now, and added to the smile, he was starting to worry. She pulled a piece of paper out of her bag and wrote something on it. "Have Donna put this on your schedule, and don't even **_think_** about not showing up!"

With that, she walked away leaving Harvey slightly confused. He looked down at the paper where she'd written:  
 **9:00 am, Wednesday, my classroom.  
Don't wear a suit, wear a blue shirt.**

Oh yeah, he was definitely in big trouble!

Harvey had tried for two days to get out of Mike what Sam was up to, but apparently she had threatened bodily harm if he even hinted at it. So, here he was, on a Wednesday morning, dressed in jeans and a dark blue long-sleeved t-shirt, heading to Sam's classroom. And, if he was being totally honest with himself, he was a little scared.

He was about to knock, but she saw him through the window and waved him in. When he walked in, 24 pairs of eyes were glued to him, not to mention the 4 other adults standing along the wall. Sam walked over to him with a huge smile on her face, "you made it."

"You doubted me," he asked with feigned hurt.

"Let's just say, I wasn't sure if you'd be up for this challenge."

'I'm not sure that I am,' Harvey thought, as he walked over to stand next to the other adults. The kids were all sitting on the brightly colored rug chattering away to each other. Sam stood at the front of it, and said, "1, 2, 3, eyes on me." Harvey was shocked to hear all of the kids respond together, "1, 2, eyes on you," and, they immediately quieted down.

"Thank you," Sam beamed at them. "So, who knows what today is?" All their little hands went up. "Alli," she said pointing to a little girl that had curly blond hair.

"FIELD TRIP DAY," she shouted. When she did, Sam's eyes went to Harvey and she could almost see the color drain from his face. She was going to enjoy this!

'Oh God, I'm toast,' Harvey groaned inwardly.

"That's right, today is Field Trip Day! We are going to the Central Park Zoo," Sam announced a little too gleefully.

'And, it keeps getting better,' he thinks, taking a shaky breath. This really did have bad written all over it.

"Okay, so we have five helpers with us today – Madison's Dad, both of Jared's Mom's, Sabrina's Dad, and a good friend of mine, Mr. Harvey," she smiled brightly at him again. "All of our helpers have on a different colored shirt and I have nametags for all of you that match one of their shirts. So, if you're name is in purple, you'll be in my group," she said pointing to her purple shirt, "if it's in blue, you'll be in Mr. Harvey's group, and so on. Does everybody understand that?" They all nodded and Sam went right to work getting them their name tags. There were 4 kids to every adult, and Harvey ended up with three little girls and one boy. He didn't know it, but Sam had gone easy on him and given him her best behaved students, she didn't want to scar him for life… yet.

She went over the rules and policies with the chaperones, and mercifully told Harvey he could stick close to her. When they boarded the bus, Harvey ended up two seats behind Sam with Alli sitting next to him chattering away about all the animals that she couldn't wait to see. Just after the bus pulled away from the school, Harvey's phone buzzed in his pocket. He pulled it out seeing that it was a text from Sam and looked up to see her talking animatedly with the little boy sitting next to her. He pressed enter and read:

 **Special rules for Mr. Harvey:  
NO swearing  
No inappropriate references (you know perfectly well what I mean)  
No Lawyering anyone, especially the kids (interrogating, yelling, or intimidating)  
Most important – HAVE FUN!**   


Harvey smirked at the list, he could handle all of them except the last one. There was no way this was going to be fun.

  


That afternoon, after all of the students and parents had gone home, she looked at Harvey. He was leaning against the back counter, downing a bottle of water. She had to smile, she was actually quite proud of him. He'd fared pretty well – he was relatively clean, only had one small stain on his shirt, and his hair was only slightly mussed as if he'd been running his hand through it. But, most importantly to her, the kids had all **loved** him. In fact, at one point Alli and Sarah had actually started to fight over who was going to hold his hand, so he'd let both of them.

She walked over to him, smiling, "so, how much do you hate me right now?"

Harvey was trying, and failing, to look miserable. "I actually think I should thank you," he caved and a huge smile lit up his face.

Sam couldn't believe what she was hearing, "thank me?"

He nodded, "you really opened my eyes today." That garnered him a tilt of her head and a raised eyebrow, "really?"

He chuckled at that. "I actually had a really good time. You have quite an amazing group of kids."

"I do," she said warmly, "and, I'm sure the fact that Alli and Sarah not only fought over you, even at 6 years old, but had to hug Mr. Harvey before they went home, had nothing to do with it?"

He laughed again, that warm, rumbly sound that made Sam's heart flip. "Well, it never hurts to have two cute girls fighting over you." Sam laughed now, too. "Sam, you really are incredible with them. I don't say this often, but you blew me away today."

"Thank you." Laying her hand on his arm, she added, "and, thank you for being a good sport and helping me out." Harvey's skin was tingling where the warmth of Sam's hand seeped into it.

"Does that mean you forgive me," he had leaned fractionally closer to her, and his voice had dropped an octave. He definitely couldn't deny she had an effect on him.

"I guess you've redeemed yourself." When her eyes darted down to his mouth, Harvey put his hands on her hips and pulled gently. She took the step forward, ending up between his slightly outstretched legs, her hands went to his upper arms. The corners of her mouth turned up, "what are you doing Harvey?"

"Well, if I have to tell you, I must not be doing it right. Maybe I should show you," but, when he leaned in to kiss her, she leaned back.

"You haven't earned the privilege yet," she winked.


	6. Chapter 6

The next morning, Donna and Mike were impatiently waiting for Harvey to get into the office. Mike had texted Sam trying to find out how the Field Trip had gone, but all she'd said was 'fine.' Mike had filled Donna in on Monday when she had commented about having to reschedule some meetings, but when she'd found out what Sam had in store for Harvey, she was more than happy to be a silent accomplice.

When he walked in a couple of minutes later, they could both see that he was in a good mood. "Good morning," he said as he walked by Donna's desk, pretending not to notice how they were both watching him. "Good morning," they both replied, in unison. Donna cocked her head towards Harvey's office, silently telling Mike to get in there and find out what happened.

"Why me," he asked, keeping his voice to a whisper.

Donna smiled and merely responded, "she's your sister."

Mike couldn't argue with that, so he headed into Harvey's office knowing full well that Donna would be listening in anyway. Harvey was sitting at his desk, flipping through the paper and didn't even look up when Mike asked, "so, how'd it go yesterday?"

"Fine." He assumed that Sam hadn't said anything if Mike was asking him, and if he wanted to get anything out of Harvey, the kid was gonna have to work for it.

"Just… fine?"

"That's what I said," he was really trying to stifle the chuckle that was threatening to escape, sometimes the kid just made it too easy.

Mike sat down on the couch, "so… nothing interesting or exciting happened?" He was trying to sound indifferent, but he really wanted to know what the hell happened!

Harvey finally gave in and looked up at his Associate, smirk firmly in place when he asked, "if you want to know so badly, rookie, why didn't you just ask Sam?"

"Because, one – she wouldn't tell me; and two – it had to do with her kids, so no matter what happened, she would put a happy face on it. I want to know the gory details."

Harvey just shook his head and smiled, "we had a good day."

"A good day? That's all you're gonna give me? She made you go to the **zoo** with **25 five year olds**!"

"Actually, it was 24 and they are six and seven year olds," he replied calmly.

Donna couldn't take anymore and walked into Harvey's office. He looked up at her as she came to stand next to his desk. "Alright, you just corrected Mike about how many and how old the children in Sam's class are. A couple of weeks ago, you were asking me to research what kind of supplies First Graders needed. Spill," she demanded.

He had to admit, she had a point, but that seemed so long ago to him. "Okay, fine. Yes, she suckered me into going on a Field Trip with her class to the zoo. And, no, at first I wasn't happy about it, but it turned out to be a really great day. She has a great group of kids that were pretty well-behaved, actually. She's an amazing teacher and it was pretty incredible to see her in her element and how they react to her." He paused for effect, "I even have photographic proof," he said, holding up his phone.

"What," they both gasped at the same time. "Hand it over," Donna said, already reaching for the phone. Harvey pressed a button, then handed it over. She could not believe her eyes – there was Harvey, seated on a bench, with an adorable, curly haired, little blond girl on one knee; a cute, freckle faced, redhead on the other; a sweet little, brunette, with a huge smile, and her arms wrapped around Harvey's neck, standing on the bench at his right shoulder; and what Donna could have sworn was a miniature version of Harvey at the other one. The handsome, brunette haired boy, without a single hair out of place, had one hand on Harvey's shoulder and the other tucked into his pocket.

"Oh my God," Donna breathed. "You're all so cute," she said in awe.

Mike jumped up saying, "let me see," then a moment later, "holy crap! They liked you, didn't they?"

"Of course. Who doesn't like me," he said, completely sure of himself. "Ok, enough fun and games, it's time to get back to work." Mike handed him his phone and as he and Donna turned to leave Harvey's office, he felt the need to remind them, "this was personal, not business. It doesn't need to get around, I have a reputation to maintain."

They both nodded and as Mike headed back to his cubicle, Donna settled in at her desk. She couldn't have hoped for a better outcome. She was going to have to get that picture though, it was too cute to remain in Harvey's phone. She knew it would never be seen at the office, but she was also sure it would look great on his refrigerator at home. She smiled as she turned back to her computer, 'my emotionally stunted little boy is finally growing up.'

 

 

It was early afternoon and Harvey was getting irritated with himself. He'd been trying, in vain, to concentrate on the Harrison IPO. His thoughts kept drifting to Sam, or yesterday with the kids, or back to Sam. He'd also kept pulling his phone out to look at the picture from yesterday, not the one he'd shown Donna and Mike, but the one he had taken. It was a photo of Sam that she hadn't realized he'd gotten. She was talking to a little boy named Jeffrey, who was very shy. She was kneeling on the ground next to him, one arm wrapped around his waist in a hug, the other pointing at one of the animals and telling him about it. It was the look on her face that got Harvey though, she was so… peacefully joyful. He had heard that phrase once and thought at the time it sounded ridiculous, but now, he was looking at the personification of it. There was no other way to describe her – in that moment, she was exactly where she was meant to be, doing exactly what she was meant to be doing, and it couldn't have made her any happier. He thought he just might envy her a little.

He looked at his watch seeing that it was only 2:30. Knowing that her class didn't dismiss until 3:15, he decided to send her a text.  
 ** _Please call me when you get a free minute._**

He hadn't expected a response, so he was a little surprised a couple of minutes later when his phone buzzed with a reply:  
 ** _meeting after school, probably until 4:30ish._**

 **  
_No problem, call when you're finished._   
**

Mentally shaking himself, he tried to get back to work.

 

 

Sam had had quite an interesting day. She thought she answered as many questions about Mr. Harvey as she had about the animals they'd seen the previous day. The most popular question seemed to be when he would come visit them again. He had certainly made quite an impression on her kids.

She hadn't expected to hear from him today, so was pleasantly surprised to get his text. She had just finished her meeting and was packing up her stuff to head home, when she dialed his number. "Hey there, fun meeting," he asked in answer.

"Oh yes, two of my favorite topics – budgets and benchmarks," she replied, rolling her eyes.

He laughed warmly, "I know the feeling. So, what are you up to this evening, Miss Donovan?"

"Packing, why do you ask, Mr. Specter," she responded, while trying not to laugh.

"Packing? Did you find a place?"

"Yep, and I move in this weekend. Don't suppose you're available to help me," she asked with her sweetest voice.

He smiled, knowing exactly what she was trying to do. "I don't typically enjoy manual labor."

"What if I make it worth your while?"

"I'm listening."

"All the pizza and beer you could want," she offered hopefully, it always worked on Mike.

"Let me guess, that always works on Mike?"

She laughed now, "always!"

"What if I offered my help, but wanted something else in return?"

Sam could hear the smirk in his voice, "that depends, what's your proposal?"

"I will help you move, with minimal complaining, if you agree to have dinner with me."

'Damn, he is good,' Sam thought to herself. She didn't respond immediately, wanting him to think she actually had to consider it. "Well, I guess I could agree to that, but it will have to be the following weekend. I really only have this weekend to move and I need to get it done."

"I think we have a deal then," he replied a little arrogantly.

Sam noticed his tone and wasn't about to let it go, "Harvey, dear?"

"Hmm?

"Did you just close me?"

His head snapped up from the paperwork he'd been absently flipping through. Had he? 'Shit,' he really didn't want her to think that. "No, Sam, I wouldn't do that to you. I just want you to have dinner with me."

"Okay," she said, smiling to herself. "So, 8:00, Saturday morning? I'll even buy the first cup of coffee."

"Alright."

"Thanks, Harvey. I'll text you Mel's address."

"See you then."

 

 

Sam was very happy that Saturday dawned clear and bright, if a little cool. It would make the move so much easier. Harvey and Mike showed up at the same time and, as promised, Sam had coffee waiting for them. Most of her things were in storage and the movers would be at her new place in an hour, so they gathered up the few things she had at Melissa's and headed to her new apartment.

Much to her surprise the movers had actually been on time and the day had gone pretty smoothly. All of her furniture had arrived safely and been arranged, all she had left was a few boxes. It was early evening and Melissa and Mike had left about 10 minutes ago. Sam was putting dishes away in her kitchen and smiling to herself because Harvey had hung back on the pretense of being on an important phone call. He was hanging up as he came back to stand at the end of the counter a couple of feet from her.

"Everything okay," Sam asked without looking up.

Leaning back against the counter, he replied smoothly, "nothing that can't wait until Monday. So, what did you need me to do next?"

"Actually, I'm nearly finished. I just have these two boxes of kitchen stuff and those over there," she pointed to several boxes that had been stacked in the corner of the living room.

"Want me to start on those," he offered, trying to find a reason to stick around.

She shook her head, "that's okay. They're mostly books, DVD's, photos, that kind of stuff." She could almost see him physically deflate. "You know, Harvey, if you want to stay, you could just say so," she smiled.

"Who said anything about…," he trailed off when she arched one eyebrow at him and he sighed. "Okay. Sam, do you mind if I stay for a while?"

"See, was that so hard?" Harvey rolled his eyes at her. "Want a glass of wine?"

"That would be nice, thank you." He went into the living room and started to wander a little. They'd been so busy today that he hadn't really paid much attention, but now, he was starting to notice the little things that reflected Sam's personality. There were little trinkets and things here and there, but what Harvey noticed were the photos. She had tons of photos and they were everywhere. He stopped at a cluster of them hanging on the wall next to a bookshelf. He recognized Mike in a few of them.

Sam walked up and handed him a glass of wine. "I see you've noticed my obsession," she smiled warmly at him. "The first thing I have to do when I move in is put up my pictures, it's what makes it home."

He nodded and then did something that she didn't expect. He took a step back from the wall, put his hand on her hip, and gently pulled her to stand in from of him. "Tell me about them," he said in her ear.

Sam tried to ignore the heat seeping into her where his hand still rested on her hip, and focus on the pictures. "That one is my parents on their wedding day. They look so young, don't they?" She felt, more than heard the rumble of agreement from him. "That is me with them, I think I was about three there. That's Mike and me having a snowball fight at his Gram's house, um, I think we're about nine or ten. Don't worry, I won." Harvey chuckled behind her. "This one is Mike and me with his Gram and my Aunt Susan, at my high school graduation." Harvey's hand slid around to her belly and pulled her back against him. Sam's stomach started to flutter. "That's Aunt Susan and me on my first day of high school. That's Mike and me from a cross-country road trip he took me on after graduation. God, that was fun!" Harvey's arm tightened a little. "That one is of Melissa and me on our first day of college. This one Mike and m…" she couldn't finish because Harvey had tipped his head down and was placing warm, soft kisses on her neck. And, holy hell, that felt good! He was taking his sweet time and every couple of kisses, she thought she felt just a hint of his tongue. But, just as she was about to be completely lost to him, his damn phone rang.

She heard a soft, but vehement, "God damn it," in her ear, just before he stepped away from her. "Harvey Specter. Hi, Jessica." Harvey mouthed 'boss' to her as he stepped away to finish the call.

Sam took a couple of deep breaths trying to regain control of her senses. There was something about that man that kept her off balance, and she didn't doubt for a minute that Harvey Specter could fully knock her on her ass if she let him. She took a deep drink of her wine and went about unpacking another box, trying not to think about how her neck was still tingling.

Harvey came up behind her, placed a hand at her back. As she stood up and turned to him, he put both hands at her waist, "I'm sorry, I have to go, crisis at the office."

"Can't wait until Monday after all?" He shook his head dejectedly. "It's okay. Thanks for the help today. I really do appreciate it."

"You're more than welcome," he replied, "but, I still wish I didn't have to leave."

She walked him to the door, but before he could leave, Sam gave him a slow sexy smile, wrapped her arms around his waist, leaned up and whispered in his hear, "just think of what you have to look forward to." She then placed a lingering kiss just past the corner of his mouth. "Goodnight, Harvey."

He stood there a moment, staring at the door, a war going on inside him. He desperately wanted to just say screw the job, go back in there, and make love to Sam until she came screaming his name. But, he knew he had to go. He was beginning to wonder if he'd finally met his match. As he walked to the elevator, he smiled to himself, 'good God, I hope so!'

 

 

It was late Wednesday afternoon and Sam was annoyed with herself. It had dawned on her yesterday that she'd been so caught up in the excitement of everything with Harvey, that she hadn't talked to Mike about their date. She liked Harvey and wanted to see what might happen, but not at the expense of her brother. He was the most important person in her life, and she'd never knowingly hurt him.

She was done for the day, but doubted he was. Still, she took a chance on calling him rather than texting. She was glad when he answered on the second ring, "Mike Ross."

"So, that's what I get now? Not even a 'hey sis'?"

"Oh, hey Sam. Sorry, I didn't look at the display first. What's up?"

"Just wondered if you'd be done anytime soon, maybe we could grab some dinner," she was trying to play it off casually, but she really wanted to talk to him. Her date with Harvey was supposed to be Saturday night.

"Um," she heard papers shuffling, "yeah, I think I can do tonight. When and where?"

"How 'bout I make you a home-cooked meal for a change? Come over about 7?"

"That sounds good. That'll give me enough time to finish this brief so Harvey doesn't have a coronary in the morning." They both laughed at that.

"Увидимся. Люблю тебя." [See you then. I love you.]

"Тоже люблю тебя, Сэм." [Love you too, Sam.]

 

 

Sam had made one of Mike's favorite comfort meals – spaghetti with meatballs and garlic bread. They chatted through dinner about Sam's new place and her kids, a difficult case Mike was working on, him and Rachel. Now they were sitting on her couch - Mike with his long legs stretched out in front of him, feet propped on the coffee table and Sam curled up next to him, head resting on his shoulder – watching Survivor. "So, Harvey asked me out."

"Yeah?"

"Mmhmm."

"You say yes?"

"Yeah."

"Okay."

Sam smiled to herself. That one word spoke volumes to her. Okay indeed.


	7. Chapter 7

It was promptly 7:00 on Saturday night, when Sam heard a knock on her door. She laughed a little, the man was nothing if not punctual. She wasn't quite prepared for what she saw when she opened the door, however, and her breath caught in her throat. She'd seen Harvey dressed casually, a few times now, but tonight was entirely different. He was wearing a beautiful, deep grey suit, but it was what he wasn't wearing that caught her eye – no vest and no tie, with the first couple of buttons of his shirt open. 'Damn,' Sam thought to herself.

For his part, Harvey was equally speechless. Sam was wearing a deep blue, wraparound dress that hugged her curves in all the right places. Her hair was falling in soft waves around her shoulders and Harvey desperately wanted to bury his hands in it and kiss her senseless. "Wow," he breathed.

Sam smiled, "back at ya."

Clearing his throat, he asked, "are you ready to go?" Sam just smiled and nodded. Sam pulled the door shut behind her and as they turned to head for the elevator, she felt Harvey's hand on her lower back.

"So, where are we going?"

"You'll see," was all Harvey would say, smiling at her.

A few minutes later they were pulling up in front of Puttanesca. She looked at Harvey suspiciously as they got out of the car, "did you ask Mike what my favorite restaurant was?"

He chuckled and slid his arm around her, "you didn't think I'd do my research?"

She smiled up at him, "actually, I'm not the least bit surprised."

They were seated at a quiet table and Harvey ordered a bottle of wine. "You really do look absolutely gorgeous tonight."

Sam felt a slight warmth creep into her cheeks, "thank you." She took a sip of wine before returning his compliment, "you look quite handsome yourself. I don't think I've ever seen you wear a suit and no tie."

"It is a rare occurrence," he replied smoothly. The waiter returned for their order and when he left Harvey said, "there's something I've been wondering about. If you don't want to talk about it that's fine, but I…"

"You were wondering about Mike and me," she finished. He nodded and Sam smiled, "I don't mind, ask away."

"Well, he mentioned that biologically your cousins, but that you've always felt like siblings."

Sam nodded, "that's true. One of my earliest memories is of us playing together. We've always been close, but losing our parents probably strengthened that."

"Your parents," Harvey asked slightly confused.

"Both of our parents are gone. I thought you knew that."

Harvey was a little taken aback. She'd said it so matter of factly, and he hadn't known. "No, I didn't, I'm so sorry."

"Thank you, but it's okay. It happened a long time ago. Our Mother's were sisters. One night when we were about 4 or 5, Mike's Grandma was watching both of us when our parents all went out for dinner. There was a bad car accident and they were all killed. Mike's grandparents took him and my Aunt Susan, my Dad's sister, took me. They knew how close Mike and I were though, that we'd need each other, so they made sure we had free access to each other. In fact, Aunt Susan moved into the same building that Mike's grandparents lived in." She smiled softly. "I've never thought of him as anything other than my brother. It's always been us against the world," she finished with a quiet laugh.

"I hadn't realized all of that, but it's very clear that the two of you mean the world to each other." They sat in silence for a moment, enjoying their meal. "But, is there room for someone else," he asked before he even realized he'd thought it.

She looked up at him and smiled knowingly, "thinking of anyone in particular, Harvey?"

'Shit!' Of course she was going to call him on it. "I just mean whenever one of you… that is to say, how will you guys… are you able to…." 'What the hell? No one makes me flustered, how does she do that,' he wondered to himself.

Sam was trying desperately not to laugh, but he was just so cute when he didn't know what to say. "Calm down, Harvey."

"I'm fine," but, the fact he was squirming in his seat a little, belied his words.

"Mike and I are very close, there's no denying that. And, we are permanent fixtures in each other's lives, whoever we end up with will have to understand that. Does that mean there isn't room for anyone else? Not in the slightest." She watched him closely, wondering where he was going to go with it. He seemed to be considering what she'd said, then surprised her and shifted direction.

"Why does it feel like I've known you most of my life instead of just a couple of months?"

She took a sip of her wine before replying, "I'm not sure." Giving him a gentle smile she asked, "is that a bad thing?"

"No, I don't think so," he said finally, returning her smile. "There's a wisdom in you that I didn't expect."

"You're not the first person to say that. Aunt Susan always called me an 'old soul.' She said I was wise beyond my years."

He nodded thinking that made perfect sense. "Where is she now, your Aunt Susan?"

"When I graduated college she moved to Florida to be close to my grandparents down there. I see her a few times a year. We email and Skype a lot. What about your family?"

Harvey shifted again, looking slightly uncomfortable. "I have a younger brother who's married and lives in California. I don't see him much. My father passed away a few years ago and my mother is in Europe somewhere."

"Somewhere?"

He just shrugged, "she does her own thing, doesn't stay in one place too long."

"That must be tough," Sam said sincerely. She might not have her parents, but she had Mike and her Aunt and a few close friends that she considered her family. Harvey didn't seem to have that. "Isn't there anyone else?"

He really didn't want to get into it right now, so he quickly changed the subject. "So, tell me about all the photos. You were taking them the whole day we were at the zoo and you have dozens of them hanging in your apartment. Why?"

She picked up on the change of subject, but let him get away with it, feeling like it wasn't the right time to press him on it. She smiled and could tell Harvey was genuinely curious to know about them. "I don't know. Maybe it has to do with losing my folks so young and not having many pictures of them," she shrugged. "I've just always loved to take pictures and have them around me. I have an entire external hard drive that has just photos on it. I probably have hundreds of thousands."

"Really?" He was a little shocked at that.

"Mmhmm. I always have a camera with me, even if it's just the one on my phone. Speaking of…," she said as she reached into her purse and pulled out her phone. She walked around to Harvey's chair and without saying a word, plopped down on his lap. His hand immediately went to her hip, holding her there. She slipped an arm around his shoulders and held the camera out in front of them, "say cheese." She snapped the picture and turned the phone around to look at it. It was a good one, they were both smiling happily. She leaned over to kiss him on the cheek and whispered, "thank you," in his ear before standing up and walking back to her seat.

"You're welcome," he responded, his voice a bit lower than it had been a few moments ago and it sent a spike of desire through Sam. He held her gaze for a moment, wishing desperately that they weren't in a crowded restaurant and he could pull her back into his lap and watch her ride him until neither of them could think straight. He cleared his throat trying to shake his wayward thoughts.

Sam could almost read Harvey's thoughts, as hers were following the same distinct path. The room was suddenly too crowded, too noisy, and too warm. And, she was starting to think some very explicit things about his hands and mouth when she heard him clear this throat.

"So, how 'bout those Yankee's?"

Well, that got her attention through her lust-filled thoughts. "Really? The Yankee's? That's what you're going with," and she couldn't help the laughter that escaped her.

Harvey smiled, loving the light sound, and just shrugged. The finished their dinner, talking about everything and nothing at all.

 

 

Harvey had insisted on walking her to her door. She unlocked it and then turned to him, "thank you for a lovely evening."

"It was my pleasure." He took a step toward her so they were only inches apart now. "Aren't you going to invite me in?"

"I don't know if that's a good idea," she said, a little breathless. There was no denying that Harvey effected her.

"Let me guess, I haven't earned the privilege yet," he asked with a smirk.

"No," she answered with a smile. As if resigning himself to it, he started to take a step back, only to have her curl her fingers into the lapels of his jacket and pull him back to her, "but, I didn't say you hadn't earned any." Harvey didn't waste a minute and did exactly what he'd wanted to do earlier - he buried his hand in the hair at her neck and pulled her into a kiss. It was gentle at first, lips brushing against each other, testing, teasing. But, all too quickly, it wasn't enough. Sam snaked one hand around the back of his neck and pulled him even closer as she bit at his lower lip, gasping when she felt Harvey groan against her. When she opened her mouth under his, his arm tightened around her waist and the hand in her hair pulled gently to tilt her head back further. He deepened the kiss, sliding his tongue against hers, tasting her. When she let out a breathy moan and slid her other arm up around his neck, his hand slid down to her ass and pulled her impossibly closer.

He felt like he was drowning in her, yet he couldn't get enough. Then her hands were under his jacket roaming over his back, heat searing him through his shirt wherever she touched. He tore his mouth from hers, getting him a whimper of protest from Sam. "Let me come in," he all but growled in her ear. Then he was placing searing kisses down her neck and her resolve crumbled. She reached behind her, opened the door, grabbed him by his shirtfront, and pulled him inside. When he kicked the door closed behind him, she promptly pushed him up against. Her mouth fastened onto his once again. She slid his jacket off his shoulders, dropping it to the floor. Then her mouth was moving along his jaw and down his throat.

Harvey realized, a little too late, that Sam might just kill him. She wasn't like any woman he'd ever been with, she gave as good as she got. She wasn't just kissing his neck, she was biting him, just hard enough for him to feel it, then licking over it with her tongue. His knees went a little weak at the knowledge that she could more than keep up with him. When she reached the v of his shirt, he felt more than heard her muffled, "how much do you like this shirt?" Sam figured he had plenty of shirts and decided not to wait for an answer. She reached for the button placket and yanked. He heard the buttons hitting the floor and it sent a sharp bolt of lust through Harvey. His hands had been roaming her body while he'd let her have her fun, but now they slid down over her ass to her thighs, and lifted. She wrapped her legs around his waist, toeing off her shoes as she did. Her arms went around his neck as she kissed him deeply again.

Harvey made his way to the couch. As he laid Sam down, she didn't let go and pulled him down with her, refusing to break the kiss. She pushed his shirt off his shoulders and down his arms and Harvey hissed against her mouth at the feeling of her hands on him. He reached for the tie at the side of her dress and pulled it loose. He moved down to her neck, licking and kissing, and she smelled so good and tasted just a little bit sweet and he couldn't help it, "God, I want you."

Sam still had one leg around his waist and tightened it as she pushed up, grinding against the hardness she felt there. At Harvey's moan she replied, "I had no idea."

"Oh, you're going to pay for that," he rasped as he pulled her dress open, revealing her navy lace bra. He ducked his head sucking gently through the fabric causing Sam to gasp and arch up into him. "Oh God, Harvey!" She could almost feel that damn smirk against her skin. He was sliding his hand up her thigh, under her dress, when his god damn phone rang again. He rested his forehead on her chest, "I can't believe this."

"Neither can I," said Sam sounding incredibly frustrated.

Harvey didn't move off of her though, just pulled his phone out of his pocket. Seeing it was Mike, he hit ignore and threw it on the table. "Forget it," and leaned back down and began kissing her again. Not a minute later, Sam's phone rang. "God damn it," he ground out. He moved off Sam so she could answer it, already figuring it was Mike.

She looked at her phone, pressed the send button, said "he's right here," and handed the phone to Harvey. She pulled her dress around her knowing where this was headed.

"The world as we know it, better be ending, Rookie," Harvey growled. Sam watched as he sighed heavily then ran his hand through his hair, trying her best not to notice the muscles shifting under the warm tanned skin she had had under her hands just moments ago. "Alright, don't do anything until I get there." He hung up and took another deep breath. Turning to Sam, he hooked his hand around the back of her neck, rubbing a thumb gently across her cheek.

Before he could say anything, she leaned into his touch and said, "you have to go. It's okay."

He kissed her gently, "no, it's not, and God knows I don't want to go, but Mike can't handle this alone." As they got up, Sam retied her dress and Harvey reached for his shirt. Then he remembered how Sam had ripped it. Holding it up to her, he smirked, "you're lucky I keep an extra shirt at the office."

She looked a little sheepish, "I'm sorry. I guess I got a little carried away."

He pulled her back to him, "don't ever be sorry about that." He then kissed her breathless again. "I'm sorry, I really have to get going."

"Could you do me a favor," Sam asked as he pulled his shirt on, then his jacket.

"Anything."

"Don't tell Mike about the shirt? That would just get… weird."

He laughed, that warm sound she loved, and said, "yeah, that won't be a problem." He kissed her once more, "I'll call you tomorrow."

"Okay." This time Sam pulled him back to her and kissed him deeply. "Good luck," she breathed against his mouth.

As he walked out the door, she could have sworn she heard something about, "somebody is sure as hell going to pay for this." She smiled to herself and leaned back against the closed door. Next time she was throwing his damn phone out the window!


	8. Chapter 8

Sam wasn’t one to wait by the phone, she had a life that needed her attention. So, by the time her phone rang at just past 6, she’d gone grocery shopping, paid some bills, and had done laundry. “Hey you,” she answered, seeing it was Harvey.

“Hi. I’m so sorry I didn’t call earlier. I kind of passed out when I got home this morning.”

She could hear the fatigue in his voice. “It’s okay, I had plenty to keep me busy today. Did you get your problem solved?”

“It took a while, but yes, we did. So, what are you doing?”

“Right now, I’m thinking about what to have for dinner, looking over my lesson plans for the week, then going over some benchmark work.”

“Hmm. Mind if I help with the dinner part,” he asked, sounding a little less tired.

Sam smiled now, somewhat intrigued. “What did you have in mind?

“Why don’t you open the door and find out?” As he said it, there was a knock on her door.

“Harvey, what are you up to?”

He chuckled lightly, “just open the door.”

When she did, he was standing there, leaning against the wall, with a bag from the Chinese place down the street. Sam also noticed how tired he looked. She copied his stance leaning against the door-frame in front of him and smiled warmly. “Shouldn’t you be at home, asleep?”

Harvey shook his head, “I’m fine. And, I’d much rather have dinner with a beautiful woman.”

A slight blush crept into her cheeks, as she moved to let him come in. She shut the door behind her as he made his way to her kitchen. She walked over to stand next to him as he began pulling containers out of the bag. He stopped and turned to face her. “Hi,” she said, sliding her arms around him in a hug. “Hi,” he replied, wrapping his arms around her and placing a lingering kiss on her lips. They stood together for moment, arms wrapped around each other, before Harvey’s stomach let it be known he hadn’t eaten most of the day. Sam laughed lightly, “you grab the food, I’ll grab the drinks.”

They settled themselves on the couch and tucked in to their food. Harvey asked to put the football game on, and Sam was still flipping through her lesson plans. After they finished eating, she leaned against Harvey as he rested his arm along the back of the couch. She continued to work on grading papers until she heard a soft snore from behind her. She turned around to see Harvey, head lolled back on the couch, sound asleep. A part of her wanted to laugh, but he looked so sweet and vulnerable sitting there that she just couldn’t. She brushed her fingers lightly against his cheek, “Harvey, wake up.”

“Hmmm?” He blinked several times before his eyes focused on her. “Oh shit. Did I fall asleep?”

“Yeah. I think you should head home, you really need to get some sleep,” she told him, frowning slightly.

“Or,” he pulled her to him and kissed her, “I could just stay here.”

She laughed lightly, “but, you need sleep and if you stay here, I don’t think either of us will be getting much of that.” She stood up pulling on his hand to get him to follow her. “Come on.” As they reached the door, he pulled her to him and she wrapped her arms around him like she had earlier. “Thanks for dinner.”

“I’m really sorry I fell asleep on you,” he said sheepishly.

“Don't be, I take it as a compliment,” Sam replied, smiling brightly.

Harvey’s brows furrowed together in confusion, “a compliment?”

“Sure. If you didn’t feel comfortable and relaxed with me, there’s no way you’d fall asleep, no matter how tired you were.” She actually sounded a little bit proud of the fact.

“Is that so?” He returned her smile and kissed her lightly.

“Mmhmm, now go home and get some sleep,” she said as she tried to gently push him towards the door. But, Harvey wasn’t going to go so easily.

He pulled her tightly to him again, “or, you could come home with me and not sleep.” He waggled his eyebrows at her.

She laughed and pushed him towards the door again. “No, now go.”

He sighed loudly, trying to sound put upon, “alright.” Sam just shook her head. “Oh, wait, I do need ask you something.”

“Harvey,” she said in a mock warning tone.

“No really,” he said trying not to laugh. He took hold of her hand and became more serious. “The annual Pearson-Hardman Honors Banquet is Friday night. I would be honored if you would accompany me.”

“Are you sure you want to take _me_ to something like _that_? I’m not exactly a fancy…”

He stopped her with a finger to her lips, “I wouldn’t want to go with anyone else.” He smiled softly, “and, I would really like it if you would allow me to buy your dress for the occasion.”

“ _I’ll_ buy the dress, _you_ buy the shoes!”

He chuckled, “how about I buy the dress _and_ the shoes?”

Sam’s smile was all Harvey needed in answer, but she said, “well, normally I would say no, but since it is for your work, I think I’ll defer to your judgment.”

He chuckled lightly again, “alright, go see Vivienne at this little shop on West 69th, and she’ll take care of you.”

Sam’s eyes narrowed as she asked, “and, how many of your friends has Vivienne ‘taken care of’?”

Harvey pulled her in tight again, “truthfully?” Sam nodded. “None.” She tilted her head and raised an eyebrow in disbelief. “She’s my tailor, Rene’s, sister so I know she’ll take good care of you.”

“Alright, thank you.” He leaned down and kissed her again, but this time it was passionate and heated. She pulled back, with some difficulty, and pushed him towards the door again. “Harvey, you need to go.”

He raised his hands in mock defeat, “alright, alright, I’ll go.” He kissed her one more time before saying goodnight and heading toward the elevator.

 

It was Wednesday afternoon before she got a chance to go see Vivienne. When she walked in the small, upscale shop, she was a little taken aback to hear, “Miss Donovan! I’m so glad to meet you. Please, come right this way.” She was led to a small seating area by a slightly plump, petite, blonde with bright blue eyes and a sparkling smile. “I’m Vivienne. Can I get you anything – champagne, coffee?”

“Actually, some water would be wonderful. Can I ask how you knew who I was,” Sam asked, somewhat surprised by the warm greeting.

A young woman with ink black hair and beautiful olive skin handed her a glass of sparkling water as Vivienne answered, “oh, Mr. Specter described you perfectly!” Sam smiled at the warm feeling that washed over her at that bit of information, though she wasn’t exactly sure why. “I took the liberty of pulling some gowns that might suit the occasion, but, of course, if there is anything you see that catches your eye, please let me know.”

Sam was excited now. She liked the woman and decided to enjoy the experience because it might never happen again.

After an hour and a half and about a dozen or so gowns, Sam walked out of the dressing room to hear a gasp from Vivienne. “Oh! That’s it honey! _That_ is the dress. He won’t know what hit him when he sees you in that!”

“You think so?” Sam loved the gown! It fit her like a glove, almost as if it was tailor-made for her, and she felt incredible sexy in it. She also knew that the emerald color would bring out her eyes. She twirled in it, looking at herself in the mirror.

“Oh, absolutely, my dear! In fact, it is so perfect, I’d refuse to sell you anything else,” the smaller woman raved. “Now, let’s get you some equally fabulous shoes. Oh! I know just the pair – matching emerald, satin Louboutin’s!” She was back with them in an instant and Sam fell in love with them immediately.

As they finished up their appointment and Sam was almost ready to leave, she turned back to the petite woman. “Vivienne, could I ask you one more small favor?”

She beamed a smile at Sam, “of course, my dear, anything.”

“I know that Mr. Specter is paying for everything, but do you think….”

Vivienne interrupted her, “oh, don’t you worry about a thing, honey. He won’t get a single detail out of me!”

“Thank you. I really appreciate all of your help.” She squeezed the woman’s hand fondly.

“Any time, my dear. Have a wonderful time!”

As Sam walked out of the shop, she felt the butterflies start. She knew that Harvey had dated some very beautiful women in the past and she fervently hoped that Vivienne was right. She wanted nothing more than to knock Harvey Specter on his ass!

 

 

The next two days had gone quickly and Sam was thankful for that. They had both been so busy that they hadn’t had a chance to do more than text or make a couple of short phone calls all week. Sam was getting ready when her phone rang at almost 6:00. She looked at the display and saw that is was Harvey. “Hey you. You’re an hour early, I thought you said 7:00?”

She heard him chuckle, “I did. Look, Jessica needs my help with a client. I don’t know what the hell his problem is, but I’m not going to be able to pick you up.”

“Oh, okay,” he could hear the disappointment in her voice.

“What I’d like to do, if it’s alright with you, is send Ray by to pick you up and bring you to the Hotel. I’ll be here, but Jessica really wants to deal with this before the banquet. I promise I’ll make it up to you, Sam.”

She smiled at that, “remember what happened the last time you said something like that?” They both laughed at that.

“Yeah, but it all turned out okay,” he replied, remembering the field trip fondly.

“True. Sending Ray over is fine, I’ll be ready at 7:00.”

“Thanks, Sam. I am sorry. I can’t wait to see you, though.” He sounded genuinely excited and it set the butterflies off in her belly again.

“Me too, I’ll see you in a bit.” With that she hung up the phone to finish getting ready.

 

 

Harvey checked his watch again. It was 7:30 and he expected Sam any time. He was talking with Donna and her date, Bradley something, but he wasn’t really paying attention, and of course, Donna called him on it. “Harvey, will you relax? She’ll be her soon enough. You act like you’ve never…,” she trailed off. As Harvey was about to ask her what she was going to say, he noticed she was looking over his shoulder, then heard her say, “oh boy, are you in trouble,” sounding quite delighted.

He turned and saw Sam and would have dropped the drink he was holding, had it not been for Donna’s quick reflexes in grabbing it. Sam was standing at the top of the steps and she’d taken Harvey’s breath away. He had quite literally never seen anyone more absolutely striking in his entire life. She was wearing a gorgeous emerald green satin gown that looked as if it was made just for her. The color nearly matched her eyes, making them appear to shine even more. The straps were no wider than his thumb and they led to a v-neck that wasn’t scandalous, but did frame her ample cleavage nicely. It was fitted and gathered down to her hips where it then flowed out softly to the floor. Her hair was piled atop her head with beautiful curls spilling out here and there. Donna was most definitely right, he was in trouble.

Sam found him and when their gazes met, the butterflies started again. He looked so incredibly dashing in his tuxedo. It was just a simple black tux, but of course, when Harvey wore it, it was anything but simple. It fit him like a glove, surely custom tailored for him. ‘Oh, I’m in trouble,’ she thought to herself.

She lifted the skirt of her gown slightly as she made her way down the three steps and Donna’s eyes immediately went to her shoes – matching emerald green Louboutin stilettos. Harvey was going to be lucky if he made it out of this night alive.

As Sam reached Harvey, she smiled brightly at him, “hey there, handsome.”

He moved closer to her and put his hand low on her back, but when he did, he could have sworn he felt fabric and skin! He leaned back just enough to see the back of her dress – lacing all the way down her back, ending at her hips. Yeah, this was most definitely going to be the longest god damned evening of his life! Now, he slid his arm completely around her and pulled her tightly to him. He leaned in to practically growl in her hear, “you’re trying to kill me, aren’t you?”

Sam kept her cool façade in place, but her heartbeat ratcheted up considerably. “Why Harvey, whatever do you mean?” He raised an eyebrow at her and her smile changed, turning from innocent to full on devilish. “I just wanted to remind you what you have to look forward to.”

Harvey swallowed almost audibly, his mouth having suddenly gone dry. Before he could respond, Donna interrupted, “behave you two. We’re in public. And, no Harvey, you can’t leave yet.”

Sam turned to her with a smile and pulled her into a friendly hug. “Hi Donna.”

As Donna returned the hug, she whispered, “nicely done!” She was quite impressed with Sam’s ability to repeatedly knock on Harvey on his ass. They pulled apart and Sam simply winked at her. “Let me see those fabulous shoes,” Donna gushed, and Sam obligingly raised the hem of her dress so Donna could see her shoes.

And, so could Harvey, the sight sending a shot of lust straight to his groin. ‘What is it about the sight of a woman in 6 inch heels that is so unbelievably hot?’ All he could really think about was getting Sam the hell out of there and doing all manner of deliciously sexy things to her until she screamed his name.

 

 

For Harvey, most of the evening passed in a blur. He knew that he was recognized as the newest Senior Partner and for brining in the largest settlements for the past year, but he couldn’t remember a word of what he said. They’d had a lovely dinner, but he couldn’t tell you what he ate. All night, all he could see was Sam, all he could hear was Sam, and all he wanted to do was take Sam home.

At about 11:30, Donna, his savior, made her way over to him and discreetly said, “Jessica says your free to go.” He looked at her to make sure he’d heard her right, and she nodded slightly. “If you don’t make it in on Monday, at least call and let me know you’re still alive,” she said with a wink.  


That was all he needed. He pulled Sam away from her conversation with Rachel, and with a voice nearly hoarse with want and need said, “we’re getting out of here,” into her ear.

Sam was just as glad as Harvey was to leave. While she’d tried to focus on the conversations and events all night, she kept getting lost in her thoughts of Harvey’s mouth, and Harvey’s hands, and getting Harvey the hell out of that tux.

So, when they were safely away from prying eyes in the car, Harvey only got out two words – “Ray, home” – before he was pulling her to him and devouring her with a mind-numbing kiss.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> For anyone that wants a visual, here is Sam’s dress only it would be emerald green:  
> http://www.jjshouse.com/a-line-princess-v-neck-sweep-train-charmeuse-evening-dresses-with-ruffle-017004173-g4173  
> And, these are the shoes, in the right color: http://us.christianlouboutin.com/shoes/special-occasion/volpi-150mm.html


	9. Author's Note

To all of the readers who have commented on or liked this story, I want to let you know that I haven't given up on it. Unfortunately, I have had a horrible case of writer's block. I, like the rest of you, am anxious to see what happens with Harvey and Sam. I'm sincerely hoping to be able to having something to put up soon. Thank you for your kind words, support, and patience - it means so much to me. <3


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